News Finder

Book on Angels in Art

Jacqueline Carey of the Hope College staff is the author of "Angels: Celestial Spirits in Legend & Art," published recently by MetroBooks of New York City.

With 101 color illustrations, the hardbound book presents a history of angels as depicted in angelic literature and folk tradition, from references to similar beings in ancient Zoroastrianism, to biblical and apocryphal accounts. The book organizes angels within three main sections: "The Eternal Realm," "The Material World" and "The Infernal Regions." The narrative complements and is weaved around the color images, which are the book's emphasis. Carey is assistant gallery director in the college's De Pree Art Center, and has been a member of the Hope staff since 1988. She originally developed the proposal for the book in the fall of 1996 at the encouragement of Laura Wyss, a 1991 Hope graduate who was employed as a picture researcher with the publisher. The personal connection, she noted, was an added bonus as she subsequently wrote and selected images for the book. "It was really nice to have an opportunity to work with one of the art alumni, who was part of the first generation of students that I knew here at Hope," she said. Although "Angels: Celestial in Legend & Art" is her first book, Carey has had fiction has appeared in a variety of publications, and she writes and edits publicity, educational and documentary materials in her position at the college. She has also completed a mainstream literary novel that is currently being considered for publication. In addition, she and designer Judy Hillman of the Hope art faculty are in the process of developing an art book dealing with tulip imagery in Holland, Mich. She received bachelor's degrees in psychology and English literature from Lake Forest College in 1986. The book may be ordered through the college's Hope-Geneva Bookstore for $16.98. The bookstore is on the ground level of the DeWitt Center, which is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street, and may be called at (616) 395-7833.